Bethesda at Bunbury 2013

We interviewed Bethesda, an up-and-coming band out of Kent, Ohio. It was a new experience for The Lesser Known, so bear with us on this one, it's probably going to be a little disjointed. Our interview notes leave something to be desired, so this will be more of a summing-up of what happened and what was said rather than our usual question and answer format.

So here we go:

Bethesda is a six piece folk-rock indie band. They consist of band founders Eric Ling and Shanna Delaney, who met in college at Kent State University, and recently celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary. In fact, it was on their honeymoon that they first decided to start making music together. From there, the couple met drummer Justin Rife and bassist Dan Corby at church, and Bethesda was born. Bethesda more recently expanded to include violinist/keyboardist Christopher Black, and lead guitarist/banjo player Jessie Scaggs.

Eric and Shanna

Top: Dan, Christopher, Jessie

Bottom: Justin

The band has one full length album (Love in the Time of Tra La La) and one EP (Dreamtiger and Other Tails) from earlier years, but their newly released LP, The Reunion, is the first to include all six members, and during our interview they were very enthusiastic about it. With this album they have settled into a genre and a unique, cohesive sound, a process which has taken nearly four years to reach since Bethesda's genesis.

In their early days, Bethesda's varied influences pulled them in many directions, from post-punk, to indie-pop, to eight minute Sufjan Stephens-esque songs. In The Reunion, these influences are much more nuanced than in their previous recordings. Eric and Shanna cited The Decemberists and Arcade Fire as some of their inspirations, along with Shanna's vocal sound coming from a background of opera, musical theater, and bluegrass. With such varied interests, it took the band a while to achieve a defined and specific style. Now that they have, however, Bethesda is focusing on their goals as a band and their rising success following the release of their LP.

This year, Bethesda played their biggest show so far, Bonnaroo. Shanna commented that they were surprised that so many people came out to see their set: "There were people in the crowd holding signs with our names on them! We couldn't believe it." The group said that while they love to play big shows and outdoor festivals, they prefer smaller venues. Their main goal is to connect with people, share stories, and get to know their fans. Eric told us that their favorite thing about touring is learning about people's lives and having people really relate to their music. After seeing their set at Bunbury, we can confidently say that Bethesda accomplishes their goal of connecting with audiences.

Bethesda at Bunbury Music Festival

July 14th, 2013

For Bethesda's tour schedule, music, merch, and more about the band, you can visit their website, Youtube channel, SoundCloud, Facebook page, or Twitter page.

Check out Bethesda's Official Music Video for "Go" off their newly released album, The Reunion!

For more about Bunbury Music Festival 2013, the bands we saw there, and our over all experience, check back in the weeks to come. We will be posting a lot of information and stories soon!

As always, thanks for reading The Lesser Known! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to be up-to-date on all of our latest posts!

American Authors - We Are a Band For The People

Ever wonder what it would sound like if you were to combine Imagine Dragons with the 2000's alternative sound and a hint Fun., and many other heavy hitters in today's indie-rock scene? Well, what you get is the unique sound that is American Authors.

The recently formed, Brooklyn based alternative indie-rock band is composed of Zachary Barnett, James Adam Shelley, Matt Sanchez, and Dave Rubin.  The group first met in 2006 at Berklee as students. They meshed well and went on to officially form American Authors a few years later.  They have enjoyed sudden success and attention in the industry and have recently toured with A Silent Film and Gold Fields. American Authors released their debut EP with Mercury Records and will be releasing their next album soon.

In an interview on Marley's Musicality, the band stated, "We are a band for the people.  We are yours to cling to when the going gets rough and band that will hopefully get you to chase your dreams like we always have."  American Authors is everything we believe in here at The Lesser Known. The band emphasizes what they believe in and that they "create the music that comes naturally" and they are "not afraid of change."

American Authors have many tour dates coming up this summer. One of which will be the Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati, OH. The festival is a three day long event featuring close to 100 bands from all over the U.S. and internationally. The festival takes place July 12-14 and we will be doing full coverage of the event again this year! American Authors is scheduled to play on the opening day of Bunbury and we will keep you updated on the live show.

Below are two new singles released as well as a couple of our personal favorites from the American Authors. You can find more of their music on their Facebook page!

"Believer"

"Best Day of My Life"

"True Colors"

"Lights" (Cover of Ellie Goulding's 'Lights')

The Reynolds Number

The Reynolds Number  is a fairly new band from Austin, Texas.  The five piece group combines the calming and melodic with deeply meaningful lyrics and some amazingly intense guitar riffs.  Despite only being together since 2011, they've made waves in the Austin music scene with their unique melodic rock.  With Josh Atkins and Chris Soltani on guitars, Gabriel Elpers on bass, Mack Arnos on drums, and Om Shankar on keys/vocals, the band has crafted its niche in the Austin music scene by using choral guitar harmonies, thumping bass, intricate percussion, and powerful vocal melodies to captivate crowds.  Since their inception, The Reynolds Number has opened for Quiet Company, Minus the Bear, Saints of Valory, and many more.  They have played at festivals including South By Southwest, Rock the Republic, and 40 Acres Fest.

The band is currently getting ready to release a self titled album, which will come out in April of this year.  Their previous releases include an EP and 7 track album, "For November," which you can take a listen to here.  The band offers a free download of their song Awake on their bandcamp page. The "Music You Seek" blog had this to say about Awake: "Awake is an infusion of everything you have heard before and something fresh for the ears. It’s an intense ballad that haunts you and pumps you up at the same time."

"Awake" - The Rynolds Number
 

"Sleep Child Sleep" - The Reynolds Number

New Music At Your Doorstep

We are all about finding new ways to discover music. This week's discovery... Merch-Box.

Merch-Box is a fun service which sends a package to you every month for as long as you want to keep them coming.  It's kind of like a new music of the month club, but every person gets something different.  When you sign up, you take a survey about musical preferences, personality, and some other things.  This allows the packages to be personal.

People get all kinds of things in their boxes! They receive the obvious CDs, posters, and stickers, but a quick look at the Merch-Box Tumblr tag, and you'll see the cute notes, candies, and special surprise gifts patrons get in the mail.

All of that sounds great, right? But I bet you're thinking it's way out of your price range.  Well, here's the best part. It's only $10 a month.

Band of the Week: Cry Monster Cry

 



Cry Monster Cry is a folk rock duo out of Dublin, Ireland. The band features the brothers' beautiful harmonies packed with emotion and lyrics full of shared experiences. Cry Monster Cry was formed by brothers Richie and Jamie Martin in late 2010.  The brothers have been involved in music together for many years before the band's formation, but it is now a central focus for them. In 2012 Cry Monster Cry recorded their first EP, "The Fallen." Upon the release of their debut EP, "The Fallen" went straight to #1 on the Irish iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart and was promptly followed by a sold out launch Upstairs in Whelan’s. The band's music was also recently featured in Tourism Ireland's Jump Into Ireland online. Since the success of the EP realease, Cry Monster Cry has been touring Ireland with their original material. Over the past few months of touring, the band has played gigs with artists such as Sea of Bees, Wallis Bird, Hudson Taylor and Jape.

In between touring, Cry Monster Cry has managed to begin work on their debut album. Jamie  commented on the upcoming album, "We're working with the same producer from the EP, Keith Lawless. We are trying to hone our skills and deliver something well thought out and mature. We were very pleased with the EP, the trick now is to do better this time round and to mature as song writers." The band should have show dates once the album completed and released.

 Below is a track from "The Fallen" EP. If you like what you hear, follow the link for a free download of the song. The full EP can be found on iTunes. If you're interested in following Cry Monster Cry, they can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and on Youtube.
 

"If we're doing this, you can do it too." An interview with a band who just wants a chance.

The Bordellos are an interesting band to say the least.  They have evolved musically since their start as Onion King in 2004 after some changes in line ups.  The band as it is today consists of brothers Brian and Anthony Shea, and Brian's son Dan.  With 30 years separating the oldest member from the youngest, the range of influences of the band is staggering and combines to give the Bordellos a unique sound.  Here's what they had to say for themselves.

How did The Bordellos get started? When?

DAN- We formed out of the ashes of the band Onion King, with the addition of guitarist/producer Geoff and keyboardist/general musical genius Vinny. Then there was a drummer, Mike, who was really good and left to play with ska bands who would actually pay him. I joined by osmosis - my dad was a member and it got me out of the house. The first two albums, the only ones with any distribution, I'm not on, but gradually I've seeped into it and started producing too.
BRIAN- Yes, we formed after Geoff and Vinny heard our 4-track demos as Onion King in 2004 and wanted to turn our Songs of the Wickerman into the Footloose soundtrack, so we became The Bordellos and proceeded to play gigs and such. Then Geoff, Vinny, and Mike left the band, so I got Dan in to replace all three. He was only 14 at the time but had a great talent. Around about this time, Bomp Records heard our Songs For Swinging Stalkers LP that we had made but never released with Geoff and Vinny. It looked like for a while they may release it, but cooled on the idea when they realized I had replaced the lead guitarist, drummer, and keyboardist with my 14 year old son. But Northern Star Records then came into the fray and released the Stalkers LP as a download only LP and received fine reviews. We then released another LP called Meet The Bordellos on The American Indie Brutarian Records and also reissured the Stalkers LP on Brutarian.
 

Where is your favorite venue to play?

DAN- Anywhere that'll have us. Where we live, there's no scene, which is a shame on one hand but no scene equals no clique and familiarity breeds contempt. Or contentment - but no chance of that in a hurry. Basically, we don't do enough AC/DC covers for St. Helens.
BRIAN- As Dan says, we really do not do many gigs, only two this year. We did both as acoustic gigs, just myself and Dan - my brother and our third member was incapacitated at the time so they could not play...
 

What are your hopes for the band's future?

DAN- That someone will pay attention to us at some point, really. We're never going to be a fashionista favourite but someone (and this is where you and other places come into it) needs to give people the permission they need to enjoy us. After that point, should it happen, I don't know - I've got visions of string sections and Polymoogs.
BRIAN- Well, I hope to get better known and for more people to pay attention to our strange take on music. We have a backlog of about sixty songs already recorded and some more that just need mixing, so it would be nice to find a label to release some of them on.
 

What influences your music?

DAN- All sorts [of infuences], musically speaking. We've all got a fairly broad range of tastes and it changes all the time. I'm reading the Wreckers of Civilisation book about Throbbing Gristle at the moment, and it's really a shame there's not much as brave or exciting going on at the moment that I've heard of but I'm sure that's open to change. Musically, the big ones for me are 60's girl groups, Rowland S Howard (and everything else Nick Cave related), Burial's Untrue, anything with that thread that runs through all those running through it. It's not about genre, it's about mood. That same principle goes into the music too, I guess - disgust at how closed minded and needlessly judgmental people can be, useless irritation but hope that it'll all get better.
BRIAN- As Dan says, all sorts [of infuences]. We do tend to mix all kinds of genres of music together. Our latest release, the Bring Me The Head of Justin Bieber EP, out on Small Bear Records www.smallbearrecords.com is our tribute to The Jamc and an attack on the mobilephone pop that is being force fed to the kids on the radi. But my main musical loves are sixties beat bands and garage punk and psych with fiftes rock n roll and rockabilly. Our third band member has a unhealthy interest in seventies singer songwriters and is currently boring everyone in earshot with his one-man appreciation society to Bruce Springsteen, but he does like Neil Young so we will forgive him for that.
 

Is there a message you want to get out with your music?

DAN- "If we're doing this, you can do it too. Don't wait around for permission, just lose yourself and get right into it."
BRIAN- Our message is bring the fun and excitment back to music, where is the danger, where has the humour gone to, where has the shock factor gone in music?
 

How would you describe your music?

DAN- I wouldn't - I'd leave it to journalists and listeners to do that.
BRIAN- TWO WORDS: BLOODY ACE.
 

What genre do you consider The Bordellos to be?

DAN- That depends what release you're talking about. Lo Fi, Folk Off, for instance - that's pretty straightforwardly folk. But it's all pop music, isn't it?
BRIAN- We tend to genre hop so I would call us a "postpunkpsychgaragerockcountrybillyfolk" band.
 

Tell us about upcoming tour dates and recent/future releases.

DAN- Bring Me The Head of Justin Bieber is available for free download here - http://thebordellosbieber.bandcamp.com/ - you can also pay if you want, doesn't hurt to try, does it? I'm doing a solo gig at the Rendezvous in St Helens, that's about it for the future that I know of but you can follow my endeavours/download my stuff for free at - http://neuroticwreck.bandcamp.com/. That's a good listen if you like every other vaguely interesting electropop with dubstep influences thing that's out at the moment, but it's not groundbreaking.
BRIAN- We have Bring Me The Head of Justin Bieber EP out now via Small Bear Records and have two LPs that can be downloaded for free. The Lo Fi, Folk Off LP and the Monkee Complex are
available to download from our bandcamp page. Both LPs were recorded over a couple of days as a bit of fun, so they're not to be taken too seriously. We also have two LPs out on Brutarian Records, Meet The Bordellos and Songs for Swinging Stalkers, and have other split EPs and such released on various labels. The future, well, we are just finishing recording a new EP which is based on the old EP The Walker Brothers Brought Out in the Sixties Called Solo Scott Solo John. This one will be called Solo Brian Solo Dan and will have four ballads and it will sound great when they are mixed. We will be looking for a label to put it out, hopefully on vinyl. Dan and I have recorded some solo stuff under the name Honeyfuzzmole so we'll hopefully find some way of getting that out next year, all recorded on a very old four track tape recorder - very lo fi. Maybe play some gigs. And I had forgotten, we have a track coming out on a Small Bear Christmas LP which will be available at Christmas.